Ryan Christopher Sitton (born 1975) is an American politician affiliated with the Republican Party. He was a member of the

Texas Railroad Commission The Railroad Commission of Texas (RRC; also sometimes called the Texas Railroad Commission, TRC) is the state agency that regulates the oil and gas industry, gas utilities, pipeline safety, safety in the liquefied petroleum gas industry, and s ...

from 2015 to 2021.

Personal life and education

Sitton was raised in Irving, Texas with his three siblings by his mother and father, both high school science teachers. Sitton displayed a talent for math and science. Sitton attended

Cistercian Preparatory School Cistercian Preparatory School is a private school for boys located in Irving, Texas. The school follows the Cistercian tradition. History Cistercian was founded by a group of monks from Hungary's Zirc Abbey, who had fled Hungary from ongoi ...

and went on to study Mechanical Engineering at Texas A&M University where he met his wife, Jennifer, also a mechanical engineering major. They now have three children and are active members of St. Andrews Episcopal Church. In his spare time, Sitton is an avid fitness enthusiast, does P90X every day and maintains a collection of over 100,000 Legos.Helman, Christopher
"Texas Oil Regulator: Trump EPA Pick Is Good At 'Breaking Down Worthless Organizations.'"
''Forbes''. Dec. 9, 2016.

Business career

Sitton spent his early career working for oil and gas companies, including ALCOA, Oxy, Marathon, and Berwanger Engineering and Consulting. In 2006, the Sittons founded PinnacleART, an engineering and technology company. PinnacleART operates on

solar power Solar power, also known as solar electricity, is the conversion of energy from sunlight into electricity, either directly using photovoltaics (PV) or indirectly using concentrated solar power. Solar panels use the photovoltaic effect to c ...

with

natural gas Natural gas (also fossil gas, methane gas, and gas) is a naturally occurring compound of gaseous hydrocarbons, primarily methane (95%), small amounts of higher alkanes, and traces of carbon dioxide and nitrogen, hydrogen sulfide and helium ...

backups.

Political career

2012 Texas House of Representatives race

In 2012, Sitton lost a runoff contest with fellow Republican Greg Bonnen in

Galveston County Galveston County ( ) is a county in the U.S. state of Texas, located along the Gulf Coast adjacent to Galveston Bay. As of the 2020 census, its population was 350,682. The county was founded in 1838. The county seat is the City of Galveston, ...

for the District 24 seat in the

Texas House of Representatives The Texas House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Texas Legislature. It consists of 150 members who are elected from single-member districts for two-year terms. There are no Term limits in the United States, term limits. The ...

Texas Railroad Commissioner

Incumbent officeholder

Barry Smitherman Barry Thomas Smitherman (born September 13, 1957) is an American lawyer who served as a member and chairman of the Texas Railroad Commission from 2011 to 2015. A Republican Party (United States), Republican, he was appointed to the commission o ...

decided to run, unsuccessfully, for

state attorney general The state attorney general in each of the 50 U.S. states, of the District of Columbia, federal district, or of any of the Territories of the United States, territories is the chief legal advisor to the State governments of the United States, sta ...

, thus creating an open seat. Sitton announced his candidacy for the Railroad Commission. Sitton polled 398,652 votes (57.3 percent) to Christian's 297,654 (42.7 percent). Sitton outspent Christian by a large amount. Sitton faced Steve Brown, a Democratic businessman from

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Libertarian Party candidate Mark Miller, and

Green Party A green party is a formally organized political party based on the principles of green politics, such as environmentalism and social justice. Green party platforms typically embrace Social democracy, social democratic economic policies and fo ...

candidate Martina Salinas. Sitton won the general election with 58% of the vote. Sitton was sworn in on January 5, 2015, succeeding outgoing Commissioner

. He is the first mechanical engineer to serve on the Commission in 50 years. In December 2016, Sitton praised President

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

's choice for EPA head,

Scott Pruitt Edward Scott Pruitt (born May 9, 1968) is an American attorney, lobbyist and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician from the state of Oklahoma. He served as the 14th Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) f ...

, predicting that Trump and Pruitt's reduction of federal regulations would lead to an oil boom. In 2017, Sitton voted in favor of Exxon Mobil in a regulation issue. He did not, however, disclose that Exxon Mobil is a client of his company, PinnacleART. In 2019, Sitton was passed over for Railroad Commission chairman, a break from tradition since the incumbent closest to re-election is usually chosen. In 2020, Sitton lost the Republican primary for reelection to

Jim Wright James Claude Wright Jr. (December 22, 1922 – May 6, 2015) was an American politician who served as the 48th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1987 to 1989. He represented Texas' 12th congressional district as a ...

, despite having the support of the Texas governor, lieutenant governor, and both of the state's senators. Sitton's campaign had raised $2 million more than Wright's $13,000 campaign. Sitton played a significant role in the

2020 Russia–Saudi Arabia oil price war On 8 March 2020, Saudi Arabia initiated a price war on oil with Russia, which facilitated a 65% quarterly fall in the price of oil. The price war was triggered by a break-up in dialogue between the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countr ...

. In 2020, Sitton returned to work as CEO at PinnacleART.

Election history

;2014 ;2012

Awards

*2015: ''

Houston Business Journal American City Business Journals, Inc. (ACBJ) is an American newspaper publisher based in Charlotte, North Carolina. ACBJ publishes ''The Business Journals'', which contains local business news for 44 markets in the United States with each market ...

s 40 under 40 list. *2015: Distinguished Engineering Alumnus, Texas A&M University. *2016: Hearst Energy Award for Government Service.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sitton, Ryan 1975 births 21st-century American Episcopalians American mechanical engineers Businesspeople from Texas Living people People from Friendswood, Texas People from Pasadena, Texas Texas A&M University alumni Texas Republicans Members of the Railroad Commission of Texas 21st-century Texas politicians 21st-century American businesspeople 21st-century American engineers Engineers from Texas Episcopalians from Texas People from Irving, Texas